Travel

First father and son captains make history at SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines recorded a unique event when Captain Ranjit Pedris and Captain Shavantha Pedris became the first father and son to hold the coveted title of Captain in one airline at the same time in the history of Sri Lankan aviation.

SriLankan's Head of Flight Operations Capt. Druvi Perera said: "This is certainly a memorable event in the history of aviation in Sri Lanka, as there had not been a father and son duo of captains in up to now in either Air Ceylon or SriLankan. We congratulate both Captain Ranjit Pedris and Captain Shavantha Pedris on this unique achievement."

Capt. Ranjit Pedris, 60, is today the second most senior Captain at SriLankan Airlines.

He was one of the airline's pioneering flight crew, joining what was then AirLanka as a First Officer from Air Ceylon where he had started his career, and being confirmed as Captain in 1985.

A visibly delighted Capt.

Ranjit Pedris said: 'It is an extraordinary feeling to witness my son becoming a Captain of the airline which has been an integral part of my life for more than 30 years.

To be Captains together at the same time, and to be the first father and son to do so, is simply indescribable.

It is the pride of any father to have his son follow in his footsteps, but most are retired by the time their sons achieve a level of distinction. I have indeed been fortunate to witness my son being promoted to command while I too am flying.'

His son Capt. Shavantha Pedris joined the airline as a Cadet Pilot in 2002 and after six years as a First Officer carried out his first command flight on an Airbus A320 on the 18th of January 2010.Capt. Shavantha Pedris, who is now 30, added: "I didn't realise that my father and I would be making history until quite recently. There have been several Captains whose sons became First Officers, but in all those instances either the father left or retired, or the son left to another airline, so they were never Captains at SriLankan at the same time. I've flown five flights up to now as First Officer with my father as Captain, and each one was very special."

Looking forward to the future, Shavantha says that although there are many opportunities for pilots to join other airlines, he has his sights firmly set on the National Carrier.

"It is absolutely fantastic to fly for SriLankan.

We have a route network that enables us to experience so many cities from Europe in the west to Japan in the east.

Also, everyone at SriLankan knows us, and you're not just a number.

It's a great feeling to work with people whom my father has trained over the years.

It was more than good enough for my father for 30 years, so it's certainly good enough for me," he said.

Sri Lanka a true 'Wonder of Asia'

Sri Lanka - the Wonder of Asia, a promotional event organised in Beijing, with a rich ambience of her culture, heritage and cuisine very confidently placed this exquisite island in the Indian Ocean, as a truly miracle destination in Asia. Spearheaded by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, this event was staged on March 5, 2010 in the prestigious China World Hotel.

The tag-line for the evening was aptly introduced in keeping with the vision of President Rajapaksa, to place Sri Lanka as 'the emerging wonder of Asia'.

Flowing from this vision and understanding the very need to establish an iconic image to introduce Sri Lanka to the Chinese people, the event portrayed the mystique Sigiriya with its frescos as its theme.

Organised on the occasion to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the independence of Sri Lanka and the 53rd Year of Establishing Diplomatic Relations with China, the evening attracted a very distinguished gathering of closer to 500 persons representing Ministers, foreign Ambassadors, top ranking Government officials, persons dominating the travel trade, the business community and the entrepreneurs.

The chief guest on the occasion was Zhang Zhi Jun, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government.

While congratulating Sri Lanka, for the success achieved in eradicating terrorism from her soil, he pledged China's continuous support for economic development and building a mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries.

Ambassador Karunatilaka Amunugama, speaking on the occasion, emphasised that for the first time in almost three decades, Sri Lanka was not under the shadow of terrorism and that the 62nd anniversary is celebrated with a great sense of oneness and pride.

He reiterated that with the resounding electoral victory for President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the recently concluded Presidential elections, a new era of peace and hope has dawned in the country to achieve prosperity, which the people so richly deserve.

In the context of bilateral relations, he spoke of the time honoured partnership and the friendship between the two countries which had been nurtured under the care of leaders of both countries and the assistance extended by the Chinese Government in protecting Sri Lanka's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Ambassador also wished China a successful launching of the Expo 2010 in Shanghai in May and the Asian Games in Guangzhou in October this year.

He reiterated that Sri Lanka looked on with much anticipation to participate in these two events.

Ambassador Amunugama also noted that the promotional exercise in Beijing certainly enriched the efforts of the Tourism Promotional Authority to position Sri Lanka as the Destination to Visit in 2011 amongst the Chinese traveller.

Set against the Sigiriya rock standing solitarily and majestically as the backdrop, one of the most prominent tourism attractions of Sri Lankan history, the dancers of the Channa-Upuli Performing Arts Foundation and the troupe of Ravibandu Vidyapathy captivated the attention of the audience with scintillating music and dance performances and a mixture of traditional and contemporary drum beats that kept the audience spell-bound.

The Chefs of Mount Lavinia Hotel catered for the evening with spice infused Sri Lanka, cuisine introducing many a favourite mouth watering dishes of Sri Lanka to the invitees.

The foyer area of the China World Hotel, was decorated fittingly to promote Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination in Asia, simultaneously focusing on her strengths for trade and investment promotion.

The Photographic Exhibition captioned 'Sri Lanka - Love at First Sight' most appropriately promoted the country as a wedding destination capturing through the lens of the Chinese photographers visiting Sri Lanka on familiarisation tours, the beauty and the exotic nature of the country.

In blending with this theme, were the trade displays created by the commercial section of the Embassy, displaying a couple of booths in showcasing Sri Lanka's targeted export items to China such as Ceylon tea in different flavours etc.

In adding further to the wonder of the evening the drummers of Sri Lanka and China portrayed their strength and unity through a synchronised item of harmonious beats. Certain Chinese Institutes in the fields of culture, trade and investment, education and training, were felicitated for the contributions made towards enhancing people to people interactions.

The convener of the Sri Lanka community in Beijing was also felicitated for the efforts made in bringing the expat Sri Lankans together with the patronage of the Embassy. The Mission of Sri Lanka together with Sri Lankan Airlines and the promotional agencies such as Sri Lanka Tourism Promotional Bureau have been making a valiant effort in the past three years by organising an event of a grand scale annually to focus the country in China, particularly due to the great potentials emerging with China as a key outbound tourist destination. The figures indicate a major surge in Chinese outbound tourism projecting approx a movement of over 48 million persons annually which they expect to rise up to 52 million this year, with good spending ability. Sri Lanka's neighbours such as India and Maldives are already established destinations for Chinese travellers.

Under such circumstances in organising unique focused events promoting Sri Lanka as an appealing exotic island would attract more Chinese travellers to the country.

In conjunction with the Sri Lanka evening, the Mount Lavinia Hotel has also collaborated with the China World Hotel hosted a week long food festival promoting Sri Lanka cuisine and introduced signature dishes such as hoppers, ambulthial, stringhopper, pillau Kottu and which satisfied the Chinese consumer amply.

SLCB promotes film locations

N Ramji, third from the left with SLCB’s Achini Dandunnage and Kumudu Hennedige and Chandran Ratnam of Asian Film Production.

SLCB hosted N Ramji, Managing Director of Travel Masters India ( P) Ltd, well-known film location provider for Indian Movies recently. SLCB assisted Ramji to do a full recce covering Kandy, Galle, Koggala, Trincomalee and China Bay. Sri Lanka will be chosen for full or part scenes for movies from Bollywood and Hollywood in the forthcoming productions following this visit.

Having established contact during the MICE promotion in Chennai last December, by inviting Ramji, SLCB received assistance from SriLankan Airlines, Taj Group and Chandran Ratnam of Asian Film Locations pvt Ltd, to make the recce a success and to enable Ramji to chose locations which SLCB believes will generate positive results in the coming months.